Muthusaram|Mullu Murukku - Gokulashtami Recipes

Mullu Murukku or Muthusaram as it is called in the Palakkad Iyer community, is a popular savory prepared on festive occassions. It is one of the items in the "Cheeru"/Seeru, in a wedding. It is one of my favorite snack varieties. But somehow, it makes an appearance very rarely in my kitchen. Most of the times, I end up preparing either the thenkuzhal or ribbon pakodam as these are better liked by the family.

This time I wanted to try this and got the recipe from my mother. They turned out very well and were loved by all at home. 

What you’ll need

1. Rice Flour – 3 cups
2. Channa Dal/ Kadala Paruppu – 1/2 cup
3. Moong Dal/ Pasi Paruppu – 1/2 cup

The following measurements are for 1 cup of riceflour + dal flour

1. Butter – 1 tbsp
2. Asafoetida – a generous pinch
3. Salt to taste
4. Oil to deep fry

Method

1. Dry roast the dals separately, until a nice aroma come out. Don’t over fry.
2. Grind the dals into a fine powder. Sieve both the powders to get a fine powder. It is important to sieve the flour. Mix both the flours well and keep aside.
3. For every 3 cups of rice flour use 1 cup of the mixed dal powder.
4. Now take 1 cup at a time of this rice flour and dal flour mixture in a wide bowl.
5. Add the butter, asafoetida and salt to taste. Mix well with hands.
6. Add water little by little and make into soft dough. Don’t make it too loose or too stiff.
7. Heat oil in a Kadai to deep fry.
8. Take the murukku press and place either the single star plate.
9. Place the dough in the murukku press and squeeze into spirals, on a plastic sheet or on the back of a flat ladle
10. Carefully, transfer the murukku from the plastic sheet into your hands and slide into the oil. If squeezed on a ladle, then slowly slide it into the oil.
11. Fry on medium flame, until the bubbles stop.
12. Transfer into a kitchen tissue, cool and store in air tight container.

Note:

1. Don't over fry the dals.
2. If using store bought rice flour then use only 2 cups of rice flour for 1 cup of dal flour.
3. Add the mentioned amount of butter or use hot oil, else, the muthusaram will turn hard. 
4. If you feel muthusaram is hard, add more butter or oil, in the next batch.
5. Knead 1 cup of dough at a time, else the muthusarams will become very red.
6. The quality of rice flour is also important to get crunchy muthusaram. Homemade rice flour is recommended.